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Friday, March 18, 2011

Corrie D'Alessio

Cornwall Ontario's Corrie D'Alessio took advantage of a full US Scholarship to play for Cornell University, a school not known for its hockey but had produced NHLers Ken Dryden and Brian Hayward. While the next coming of Ken Dryden he was not, he impressed the Vancouver Canucks' Brian Burke enough to convince Pat Quinn to select him with the 107th overall pick in the 1988 Entry Draft. Burke was in charge of player development and scouting at the time.

D'Alessio would graduate in 1991. His collegiate hockey career included 48 wins, 36 losses and 6 ties in a school record 94 games. D'Alessio went to the Canucks training camp but knew he would start the year with their affiliate team in Milwaukee. He struggled to a 9-14-2 record with a 4.01 GAA.

The off season saw Brian Burke leave his post as the Canucks director of player development to become the General Manager with the Hartford Whalers. One of the first moves Burke had to make was to move unhappy backup goalie Kay Whitmore. He sent him to his old team, the Canucks, in exchange for D'Alessio and future considerations. Burke described D'Alessio as "a really good kid."

While D'Alessio spent most of his season with the Whalers' AHL affiliate, he did get his only taste of NHL action when he replaced starter Sean Burke. D'Alessio played 11 minutes, making 3 saves while not letting in a single goal.

D'Alessio struggles in the minor leagues led to an early retirment for Corrie. He hung them up in 1994 and turned to the corporate world.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

Cornell a school not known for hockey?! What are you smoking?! Ken Dryden, Brian Hayward, Joe Nieuwendyk and now Colin Greening...just to name a few. Not to mention two national championships, including the legendary '70 team that went undefeated.